Rail-joint.



W. F. C. KARSTEN.

RAiL 101m.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 2l, I916.

1 ,212,777, Patented Jan. 16, 1917.

INVENTOR /3 lhlamfi lYanstew WITNESSES I BY 2 MMMMr u v ATTO R N EY ME uanlus PETERS co. Puomumm, wasmuomu,

s'rarns PATENT enrich.

WILLIAM. no. KAnsTEimor MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin] RAIL-JOINT.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F; (LKAR- STEN, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Milwaukee, in; the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented cer-' tain-newand useful Improvements in Rail J oints, of which the followingis a spec1fi-- cation.

and the nature and objects thereof will .be

readily apparent to-those' skilled in the art Y towhich it appertains invthe light of the following explanation of the accompanying- 'viding means for sustaining'theweight of the car wheels when the same are passing" over the space between the ends of meeting-- railssoasto prevent pounding and loo'sendrawings, illustrating-what I: now believe. to be the preferred embodiment, or mechanical expression, of my invention from among other forms and arrangements, within the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

been applied;

Another object of the'inventionis to provide a rail joint havin the above-namedchara'eteristics, and-in a dition thereto proing of the fasteners.

In addition to the foregoing,my-.-:inven tion comprehends improvements inithe de-' tails of construction, and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully 'des'crib'ed, 1

4'0 and-particularly pointed'out in the append ed claims;

In the accompanying drawings in which of my invention and illustrating its application to theends of meeting rails, and, Fig. '2 is avertical sectional view taken on the line 2 -2'of the preceding figure.

With reference to'the drawings, 1' indidates the ends of meeting" rails which are Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J an, 16, 1917,

Application filed September 21, 1916. SeriaINo. 121,456.

slightly spaced in accordance with the usual of'therails atthe point ofjuncture thereof,

the inner and outer fish: plates being designated 2 and 3- respectively. a Bolts 4:are exa tended through apertures provided in the This invention has relation to rail j oints,

- horizontal StrutsG-are disposed beneath each fish plate, and are connected to the base portlons 5 adjacent each end thereof'by means of lntegral connections-7. An opening 8 is formed at each sideof the rail joint in order that parts therebeneath may be reached.

A compressing block 9ris'disposed beneath the meeting ends of the rails,.one half of the block bearing against each railend, and

a socket 10 is-formedin thelowersurface of theblock: A bolt 11is provided as a part of this invention, and includes a circular reduced portion 12 at its upper end'ada'pted to be-seated' in theaforesaidsocket 10, the opposite end of the bolt being reduced and threaded as at 13. 1

= Fig. 2. In this manner, each strut is formed with an inclined upper surface 14: and an inclined lower surface 15, the surfaces being convergent centrally in order to define I the peculiar form of configuration as above noted. A wedge block 16 "is next provided, and is disposed above and between the struts 6, and is formed wi h downwardly converging sides 17 which, when theparts are, en-

gaged in assembledrelation,'areagainst the inclined surfaces 14 of the "struts 6." The block is provided with a verticalthreaded aperture in which th ebolt :11 is in threaded engagement, and afjain' 'n'ut 18isengaged upon the bolt above the wedgeblock to urge the wedge blo'ck downward in engagement with the struts 6. A .bridge member 19 is next included, and is formed with upwardly extending and diverging extensions 20 'ofthe struts 6, an opposing strain in the opposite direction will be directed against the block 9 setting up strain in opposlte direction against the under sides of the meeting ends of the rails, and the inner edges of the struts 6. The tendencylof the Wedge block 16 to spring out the struts 6 may be counter-acted by tightening the bridge member 19 which producesan opposite effect upon the struts. In this vmanner, the force may be directed downward upon an intermediate portion of the struts so as to producea tendency to raise the meeting ends of the rails. In this manner,

the otherwise unsupported ends of the rails are provided a support inasmuch as, when the wheels of the rolling stock arrive at the juncture of the rails, the downward strain thus produced is counter-acted by the tension bars 6 which resist any downward movement of th rail ends. The extent to which this downward movement of the rails may be prevented, can be regulated by adj usting the wedge block relatively to the bolt in a vertical direction and subsequently eifecting an adjustment of the bridge member 19.

The effectiveness of this form of rail oint may be considerably enhanced by providing a laterally extending lug 23 upon the upper portion of the inside fish plate 2 at an intermediate portion thereof so as to be disposed exactly at the meeting ends of the rails. In this manner, the flange of the car wheels in passing over the joint, is temporarily supported upon the lug 23 so as to permit the tread of the wheelto pass over the space between the rail ends without producing the pounding as evidenced in present rail joints wherein no such provi-.

sion is made.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a novel form of rail joint, which in addition-to forming a means for splicing to gether the ends of meeting rails, also reinforces the rails at a point where most needed. The device also, with modifications be adapted to use in connection with switch-frogs, switch blades or the like, or any portion of a railway rail constructed to relieve the strain and having no other support than the inherent resistance of the rails to flexion.

While I have illustrated and described my invention with some degree of particularity, I realize that in practice various alterations thereof may be made, and I therefore reserve the right and privilege of changing the form of the details of construction or otherwise altering the arrangement of the correlated parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: s

1. In a rail joint, fish plates disposable at opposite sides of the rails, a strut beneath the rails at the point of juncture thereof, coacting members adjustable vertically upon the strut, and. tensional members having their intermediate portions engaged between the co-acting members and their opposite ends formed integral with the fish plates. I

2. In a railjoint, fish plates disposable at opposite sides of the rails, a depending strut located at the juncture of therails, said strut being exteriorly threaded, co-acting members mounted on the strut for vertical movement, means forretaining the members in position subsequent to adjustment, and tensional members having their intermediate portions engaged between the adjustable members and their oppositesides formed integral with the fish plates.

3. In a rail joint, fish plates disposable atopposite sides ef the rails, a compression block located beneath the rails at the point of juncture thereof, a threaded strut having ts upper end seated in the compressing block, a wedge block mounted on the strut for vertical movement, a jam nut mounted on the strut adapted to engage the wedge blockto retain the same in. position subsequent to adjustment, a bridge member mounted on the strut beneath the wedge block, for co-action therewith, and tensional members having their intermediate portions engageable' between the wedge block and bridge member and opposite ends formed integral with the fish plates. I 1

a 4. In a rail joint, .fish plates disposable at opposite sidesofthe rails, a compression block located beneaththe rails at the point of juncture thereof, a vertical exteriorly threaded strut having its ,upper. end engaged against the compression block, tensional members having. their intermediate portions disposed at opposite sides of the strut and their opposite ends formed integral with the fish;plates,'a wedge block mounted on the strut for" vertical adjustment and adapted to engage the upper sides of the tensional members, a j am'nut on the strut engaging the wedge block to force the same downwardtherebynrging the intermediate portions of the tensional members downward to place the same under strain, a

b'ridge member mounted on the strut for In testimony whereof I 'aifix my signavertical movement and beneath thebwedge ture in presence of two Witnesses. block, to engage the tensional mem ers to prevent spreading thereof, and a jam nut WILLIAM KARSTEN' mounted on the strut adapted to engage the WV1tnesses:

bridge member to retain the same in posi- WM. WOLF,

tion subsequent to adjustment. OTTO KEIL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. O. 

